1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to systems and methods of creating, hosting, and accessing a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment. Specifically, the invention is directed to systems and methods of creating, hosting, and accessing an on-line 3D virtual environment. More specifically, the invention is directed to systems and methods of creating, forming, expanding, and displaying a 3D virtual environment, and to portraying, identifying, and accessing websites on the internet. The invention is additionally directed to systems and methods for enabling the public to create, host, and access on-line 3D virtual environments and 3D content, and to systems and methods enabling individuals to directly participate in societal activities within a 3D virtual environment.
2. Background of the Invention
The Internet has evolved to include, among other aspects, communication tools, images, videos, gaming, commerce, and social media. The Internet is currently evolving toward the next generation of capability which will be able to more fully exploit the advantages of 3D virtual environments and content. Furthermore, the availability of 3D content is growing exponentially. The number of smart TVs, mobile devices, and other electronics which can connect to the Internet and exploit 3D capabilities is also growing exponentially.
The current systems and methods of accessing websites on the Internet are typically based on traditional two-dimensional (2D) website displays and textual addresses (such as a URL representing an IP address). The number of people who visit a particular website are usually counted and tallied into a number which is characterized as the website's “traffic”. Additionally, people may “move” between two different websites via webpage links in a nearly instantaneous time frame. This internet “traffic” is invisible to the website's viewers and other website owners. While it is possible to track and tally the traffic between a specific pair of websites, the invisible traffic data is unavailable to individuals and owners of other websites due to the direct and nearly instantaneous nature of internet connections.
When visiting current 2D websites, visitors are able to interact with the various services the website offers, such as information, shopping, socializing, email, or limited computational services. However, interaction with current 2D websites is often not intuitive and the processes offered are not similar to normal everyday experiences and actions of humans and society in general. In other words, current interfaces with a 2D websites require some specific user skills or experience to fully benefit from all that the website offers. The actions required to access and interact with the websites are not necessarily natural actions that people perform on a regular basis in real life. Many people find it difficult to understand and efficiently navigate the Internet and the World Wide Web. Users may find it difficult to utilize the various non-standard interfaces of connected computers and devices and often may find it difficult to understand what service or product options the websites are presenting to them. Additionally, users may find it difficult to understand the structure, the organization of information and services, and the location of products as they navigate from one website to another since each website has its own manner of sorting and presenting the information. An unfortunate fact is that many people have limited abilities to access or relate to Internet websites due to a lack of knowledge of the necessary processes or some other experience limitation that reduces the effectiveness of their time spent. Thus, many people are unable to realize all of the benefits of the Internet because the actions required by existing 2D interfaces do not mimic the actions they would take in the real world to achieve the same result. Current 2D websites are inherently limiting in that a user requires a level of experience and web savvy to fully benefit.
There have been a number of strong pushes to build vast 3D virtual environments. All attempts have been based on a centralized system architecture and a static engine operated by a single host, whereby businesses, organizations, and individuals are confined to the host environment.
Access to current centralized 3D environments is limited to a direct visit by an internet user. Once connected to the website visitors are limited to the environment created and hosted by the website owner. Visitors are represented by an avatar which has a range of basic and optional abilities, and, through user input, can be moved to various locations in the environment. Virtual structures and locations represent places to visit within the environment, but what is possible at these virtual locations is limited to user capabilities provided by the website host and is normally identical to any other location within the environment. Using this model, existing 3D environment builders have not created practical traffic flows to attract businesses nor the commerce tools to enable user-friendly and effective transactions in the 3D environments. Broadly speaking, they have not yet generated 3D environments which enable users to execute the full range of internet potential.
There are some 3D websites which offer the possibility to purchase or otherwise acquire new items to expand the number of objects within the 3D environment or change the look of an avatar or object. However, no known 3D environment offers individuals and organizations the ability to directly create and apply new technologies to the environment itself or to create completely new applications and capabilities that add to, alter, and advance the 3D environment itself and its overall productivity. Such an approach is inherently self-limiting since improvements to the existing 3D environments, such as entirely new capabilities, are limited to and wholly dependent on items or capabilities directly offered by the resources and capabilities of the website host. Thus, greater creativity and innovation within the website is limited because users cannot directly create new advancements or alter the 3D environment without host involvement. Such user participation has been the primary driver behind the evolution of the internet to date and is the key to enabling a fully capable 3D internet to evolve.
The current 3D environments do not incorporate other website 3D content in a networked, cooperative manner and do not enable open expansion of 3D content beyond the website itself. The existing 3D environments additionally do not open expansion of the environment boundaries beyond the website itself, or efficient and open development of new capabilities across the board. By not being networked, other existing 3D environments are not visible to users while they are traversing the host 3D environment. The inability to identify other websites or environments from within the 3D environment means current 3D environments cannot act as an effective interface to the larger internet. By not being able to visualize the internet (able to observe visible representations of other websites simultaneously from within the 3D environment) users do not have a way to interface with the internet itself other than navigating away from the website hosting the closed 3D environment they are visiting.
Attempts so far to spark evolution of the 2D internet into a 3D internet have not kept the 2D interface advantages in mind (such as instantaneous access to information and navigation). While in a single existing 3D environment website, users are often unable to take full advantage of several other common internet enabled services (such as email, social media, and search functions), because the 2D interfaces within the 3D environments do not effectively and fully integrate these services into the 3D environment. Instead, the 2D interface, if available within the environment is generally a standalone action and causes users to trade off some 2D web advantages in order to operate in the 3D environment. In the process, they do not effectively integrate with the 3D environment and retain full 2D internet effectiveness.
Thus there is a need for a 3D world wide web comprised of a system of networked 3D virtual environments which operate together as a single larger integrated 3D virtual environment. There is also a need for a “Visual Network Environment” that can display a representation of multiple internet websites simultaneously as a single, large, and integrated 3D virtual environment. A 3D virtual environment will provide an intuitive structure and spatial organization to the many websites available now and in the future. The need is for a decentralized 3D virtual environment that is not just another website on the Internet, but rather a 3D environment serving as a user interface for the entire Internet, and which, for all practical purposes, represents both the internet websites and the internet users. Such an integrated 3D environment will enable individuals to take advantage of internet capabilities using the same intuitive actions they execute every day in the physical world.
There is also a need for a method within a system of networked 3D virtual environments comprising a 3D World Wide Web that will allow individuals and organizations to include, control, protect, and advance their 3D content and operations within the single larger integrated environment.
Likewise, there is a need for a visual interface which integrates 2D website advantages and tools with 3D environment tools and capabilities without leaving the 3D environment. Such an interface is preferably not simply another browser display that makes 2D websites available from the 3D environment but rather an interface, fully integrated into the 3D environment display, which retains 2D advantages within the 3D environment.
Additionally, there is a need for a system and method to provide an inherent capability for individuals and organizations to directly participate in the expansion and technological advancement of the 3D visual network environment content and to directly create, add to, alter, or otherwise improve user capabilities within the environment in a manner consistent with the real world environment.